A FORMER mayor of Frodsham has lost the chance to retain his seat on the town council after bungling his nomination for today’s local election.
Gearing up for a fight to retain the Frodsham West Ward seat he has held for the past six years, councillor Geoff Bath received the “bombshell” news that his official nomination papers had been declared invalid because his two nominators do not actually live in the ward.
Cllr Bath had unwittingly scuppered his own election chances –- and there was no time to put it right.
“It’s my own fault, I accept that, “ said Cllr Bath, who lives in Kingsway.
“When the two people who nominated me in the past for borough council elections agreed to nominate me this time, I just didn’t think that they weren’t in my ward.
“I’m angry with myself because I should have thought about this more carefully.
However, he said he was also “quite annoyed” that he was not notified sooner by election organisers at Cheshire West and Chester Council.
“I submitted my nomination papers in good time and I feel that, once they realised the mistake, they could have made more of an effort to notify me quicker. But by the time I received the letter the nomination deadline had passed and there was nothing I could to rectify it.”
Cllr Bath, who served as town mayor in 2009/10, said: “It’s certainly not the way I would have chosen to go, but I’m sure I’m not the only one this has happened to.
“I will be trying for the town council again. But unless a casual vacancy arises – and I think that’s highly unlikely – I’ll have to wait until the next election in four years time.”
A CWaC spokeswoman said: “Nomination papers and any queries were dealt with on a daily basis as they came in, and then posted out the same day.”
Cllr Bath was one of four candidates fighting for three seats in West Ward which will now be uncontested and automatically go to the other three accepted nominees: current deputy mayor, cllr Kyle McGregor, and new faces Darren Kelly and John Nield.
Four seats in Frodsham North Ward will also go uncontested to the four accepted nominees: current town councillors Frank Pennington, Rita Shearn and Pammi Taylor; and new councillor Samuel Kenneth Harmer.
Candidates vying for five town council seats in the East Ward election are: current councillors Graham Bondi, Andrew Dawson, Tony Hinkins and John Maddock; and Linda C Brown, Michael J Pusey, Ruth G Readhead and Mark RC Warren.
South Ward’s four seats will be contested in the election by John P Salinas, Fran Sutton, Sara Louise Wakefield; and current councillors Alan Greggs and Lynn Riley.
June Withenshaw
